My plan was to place my Drift HD cam out above the forward end of my TI's ama, to capture all of the boat from about 2 feet above water level, and hopefully clear of spray.

I had lusted after the Railblaza set-up, but at over $100 for a Starport and 600mm boom, I decided to make my own budget mount, to move the camera further forward.

I had a couple of glass painter poles, one which had a homemade socket made by stretching a split PVC pipe over one end, and then locking it in with glassfibre cloth. (I originally used 4 or these for a photography mast). To hold them together, I used some bungee cord, with a keyhole slot to fit the knot in one end which then holds the two tubes together with tension, but is simple to undo.At the camera end, I inserted a small carbon rod horizontally, to help me keep horizons level.To support the pole on the aka, I hacked a pool noodle and attached it to the aka with zip-ties. In order to prevent the pole jumping out of its mount, I attached a small cord passing under the aka to a zip tie on the pole via a snap-shackle.To anchor the base of the pole to the TI, I positioned it inboard of the aka knuckle, held in place by another bungee cord with keyhole slot.So everything is quite secure, but can be easily removed without tools. Job done.

Looks pretty good from where I sit Tony. Have you given it a test drive yet ?

I tried another approach to get the same result. I came from the top of the mast with a nylon line as a support for the camera mounted on the end of my paddle. Got some great angles with some nice steady panning but it's not practical with the furling etc. but OK as a one off.

Actually, given the location of the camera, I could indeed run a line from the masthead to it, and then simply undo that red line and lift the camera up enough to clear the foam saddle, and I could then pan the end of the pole too.

Since I took the photos, I have added a horizontal carbon "whisker" at arm's length, so I can quickly and effortlessly adjust the angle during tacks (recalling your issues which drove you to make a gimbal for your own camera.)

Just remember Tony that if you do send a line down from the top of the mast, it has to be tied to the base of the mast before furling. Just before I sailed out through Hells Gate I checked that everything was working spot on and when I reefed the sail I quickly realised that the line was tied on to the base of the furled sail on the outside. Then when I untied it at the base to let it fly free, it got all tangled up around the sail. Felt like a real goose and could have been a big issue.

I went out and recorded 3Gb of video using the new mount today, and the #$%^&^^$# camcorder crapped up! It wouldn't respond to any buttons, so the only way to stop it recording was to remove the battery. Naturally I now have a huge file which wasn't closed correctly, so it won't play. GRRRRR!

Camera going back under warranty..

I will spray the pole in a less conspicuous colour as well as aiming the camera a bit higher (in fact I might mount it on a small block to lessen the visual impact of the pole even further).

Breaking news! When the authorities dredged the opening to Smiths Lake, something unforeseen happened... the frikkin water ran out! well d'ur! So according to the local Hobie kayak & cat hire place, most of the lake is now ankle deep, and definitely most unsuitable for Islands. So we will switch to the Great Lakes Sailing Club on Wallis Lake in Booti Booti National Park (about 10kms closer to Forster off Lakes Way).

All of this is incidental to my mods to the boom. Firstly I fitted the end-piece from my old extendable metal pole (which rusted up so it was no longer collapsible and was too heavy to boot) so I was able to raise the camera and also gain full adjustability.I also added a horizontal 3mm carbon "joystick" about 18 inches from the other end of the pole, so now, as I tack, I can smoothly change the angle of the camera to keep the horizon level, using the horizontal "whiskers" near the camera as a guide.. I think the camera angle is really good now, even though at first I thought it might be too far forward. I will change the colour of the pole too once I get some tape. I might also add a light elastic line from the front of the ama to the camera end of the pole to reduce bouncing from running into boat wash etc.

Today I went out to test it, and came across a pod of dolphins being followed by the local whale/dolphin watch boat, so I joined in and got really up close with the dolphins, very excited about having such a great example to test the new set-up (and way cheaper than the paying customers on the boat ).

Sadly, the same issue popped up, where the camera would not move out of record mode, and removing the battery wiped out the file. But I tells ya, it woulda been good!